Interior design studio Atelier TaoC has unveiled a striking new cafe for Blue Bottle Coffee on Shanghai's West Bund waterfront, featuring distinctive wooden canopies that stretch above a prefabricated concrete counter. The innovative design aims to bring an "outdoor feeling" to the interior space while showcasing views of the historic Huangpu River.
The cafe is strategically positioned overlooking a historic shipyard in the West Bund district, which forms part of a post-industrial site on the Huangpu River that once housed Asia's largest cement factory. The location has been transformed through a comprehensive redevelopment masterplan created by Dutch architecture firm MVRDV, which combines several preserved industrial structures with modern interventions containing cultural and leisure facilities alongside new public spaces.
Atelier TaoC's project, which has earned recognition on the shortlist for the Dezeen Awards 2025, reflects both the site's industrial heritage and its current urban context. The cafe sits among food markets, restaurants, and event spaces, including the notable West Bund Grand Theatre designed by Schmidt Hammer Lassen. "The design is a thoughtful response to its surroundings, integrating the industrial past of the site with the present urban context, while providing a welcoming space for coffee lovers," the studio explained.
The interior features a pair of slanted timber columns that appear to support soaring white "canvases" which divide the space while adding dramatic height and visual lightness. These eye-catching canopies are constructed from painted wood and serve multiple functional purposes, incorporating integrated spotlights while concealing essential mechanical and electrical services throughout the ceiling area.
"The timber canvases solve spatial and technical challenges," Atelier TaoC noted. "They give an outdoor feeling to the interior and frame river views, transforming a functional ceiling into an experiential and environmental mediator." The canopies create distinct zones within the cafe while maintaining an open, airy atmosphere that connects visitors to the waterfront setting.
Throughout the interior, Douglas fir paneling and wooden furnishings provide a warm, natural contrast to the polished concrete floor and prefabricated concrete bar. The laminated wood panels serve multiple functions, creating display shelves and partitions that separate the kitchen, located in one corner of the unit, from the main customer areas while maintaining visual flow throughout the space.
Custom-designed benches positioned around the cafe's perimeter combine cast-concrete bases with seats made from timber panels that slot together in a modular system. Both the coffee bar and benches were fabricated off-site and assembled in the cafe to minimize construction waste and ensure precise installation. This prefabrication approach also allowed for better quality control and faster on-site assembly.
The outdoor seating area features angular concrete benches with integrated tables, positioned to provide optimal views of the river through the concrete-and-steel framework of the historic cement factory. These exterior elements extend the cafe's design language into the surrounding landscape while celebrating the industrial heritage of the site.
The coffee shop operates as part of the larger Gate M West Bund Dream Center development, which combines elements of the existing factory structure with components from a previous development proposal. Many of the district's buildings were originally utilized for the Shanghai Expo 2010, which served as the catalyst for making this section of the river accessible to the city's residents and transforming it into a vibrant cultural destination.
The broader Dream Center development involves multiple architectural teams, with local architecture studio Atelier Deshaus overseeing the renovation of existing buildings to the north of the site, while landscape architecture studio Field Operations managed the design of public spaces overlooking the waterfront. This collaborative approach has created a cohesive environment that balances preservation of industrial heritage with contemporary functionality and aesthetic appeal.
